New Delhi [India], March 3 : The Congress on Monday accused the BJP of manipulating voter lists in connivance with the Election Commission and said the party will seek remedy to the issue through legal, political and other means.
In a statement, the EAGLE group (Empowered Action Group of Leaders and Experts), set up by the party, alleged that there has been "deliberate act of voter list manipulation to aid the ruling party" and that "BJP wins or attempts to win elections by manipulating voter lists".
It said there are some startling developments on the issue of voter list manipulation that have surfaced and there is a "grave danger to the very idea of India as an electoral democracy"..
"The same voter ID number is being used for several voters, both from the same constituency in the same state as well as from other states. This is utterly shocking. A unique voter id for every Indian voter is the fundamental requirement and premise of a clean voter list. Multiple voters having the same voter ID number is as bizarre as multiple vehicles bearing the same registration number in the country. It is unheard of in any electoral democracy," the party said.
The statement said the Congress had pointed out "huge irregularities and abnormalities in voter lists" in the Maharashtra 2024 assembly election.
"It is both a logical and statistical absurdity that the Election Commission registered more new net voters (40 lakh) in five months between the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections in 2024 than they did in the entire five-year period between 2019 and 2024 (32 lakh)," the statement said.
"This was substantiated through ground reports in some constituencies where thousands of voters were added to the rolls from just one building or brought in from other states. It was further shown that suspiciously, most of these new voters enrolled seem to have voted only for the BJP-led alliance in Maharashtra, thereby tilting the eventual outcome in their favour," the statement added.
The party said Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi raised this issue on the floor of the Lok Sabha and demanded the voter lists of Maharashtra. Opposition parties in Maharashtra had held a joint press conference on the issue.
"The Election Commission's stoic silence has only lent credence to their complicity in voter list manipulation," the Congress said.
The statement said that when confronted with proof of the same voter ID number being used by multiple voters, the Election Commission initially responded by claiming that a voter ID number may be the same across states, but it is unique to a particular state.
"Even that turned out to be a blatant lie as there are cases of the same voter id number used by several voters in the same state and in the same constituency. After this was pointed out, there has been pin drop silence," the statement added.
The party said it is elementary knowledge that a person who can legally migrate to any state of the country must have a unique voter id number throughout the country.
"The Election Commission cannot feign ignorance or incompetence in this matter. It is a deliberate act of voter list manipulation to aid the ruling party and thwart the idea of free and fair elections," the statement said.
"The cover is now blown. It is clear that the ruling BJP wins or attempts to win elections by manipulating voter lists in connivance with the Election Commission. Which is why the process of appointment of the Election Commissioners is so critical to the Narendra Modi government that it subverted a Supreme Court ruling to have a balanced committee to appoint Election Commissioners," it added.
The Congress said it will not let this issue fade away and is actively working on seeking remedy through legal, political, legislative and any other means.
"This is a grave danger to the very idea of India as an electoral democracy. This transcends political parties and politics. Babasaheb Ambedkar fought for the setting up of an independent Election Commission to precisely resist this urge of executive interference in elections," the statement said.